To Boil Soles
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Clean and wash the sole thoroughly without skinning it.
Cover the sole with cold water and add salt and saltpetre.
Boil and serve
Bring the water to a boil and skim it well.
Let the fish simmer gently for 5 to 10 minutes, depending on size.
For moderate-sized soles, simmer for 4 to 6 minutes.
Serve with shrimp, lobster, or anchovy sauce and dressed cucumber.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Sole
- The main fish, which firms up and turns opaque as it cooks gently in the water.
- Coarse sea salt
- Seasons the water and firms the flesh slightly as the fish cooks.
The step that matters
Simmer gently rather than boil hard. A gentle simmer cooks the fish evenly and keeps its flesh tender and intact. Vigorous boiling can toughen the protein and break the fish apart, so timing should follow the size of the sole.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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